What Makes A Great Church?

"We think the Mac will sell zillions, but we didn't build the Mac for anybody else. We built it for ourselves. We were the group of people who were going to judge whether it was great or not. We weren't going to go out and do market research. We just wanted to build the best thing we could build." -Steve Jobs

What makes a church great? Is it the style of worship it offers on Sunday mornings or the number of outreach events scheduled in a year? Is it the well-manicured landscape of the grounds or the artistic flow of the sanctuary?  Perhaps it's the leadership- a dynamic preacher or pastoral counselor- that makes a great church. Maybe it's all of the above... or, *cringe* none of it.

The answer will vary by the person you ask. If you asked the recipients of the church's food pantry right after receiving groceries, they'd probably say, "Oh yeah, they're great church!" Or maybe if you asked the parents of the little girl who was just asked to sing a solo for the church's new-all-star-spangled-contemporary-modern-worship service, they would tell you, "We have a great church!" Catch my drift?

Everyone has an opinion of what they believe makes a great church and that's cool as long as folks understand that the vision God gives to a church and it's faithfulness in carrying out that vision is what makes a church great- not how well we are at pleasing people. Moses couldn't do it and neither can you.

At Fellowship, God has given a clear picture of what he wants us to look like: think "Island of Misfit Toys" and you're almost there. When a leader gets God's vision seared into her conscience- anything short of being faithful to that vision is less than great. Don't be the church across the street or down the road- be the church that God is calling you to be.

When you are faithful to God's vision sometimes you will meet others expectations and sometimes you don't even come close. When this happens you don't change your vision you simply let people change their church.

Remember, Jesus said that HE would build His church (think people- not steeple) and that not even the forces of evil would overcome it. Be faithful to God's dream of what your church should look like and you'll find greatness in making disciples of Jesus Christ. After all, what makes a great church is great people and I am blessed to lead a whole flock of 'em....

Following Jesus,

Charles